Rugbeer: The vending machine you have to tackle to get your beer

Vending machines aren’t usually designed to be hit, shaken or shoved. In fact, such behavior could well result in the perpetrator being done for criminal damage.

Makers of a vending machine in Argentina, however, have designed one which you have totackle to get your beer.

The Rugbeer machines, designed by creative agency Ogilvy for beer brand Cerveza Salta, have reportedly proved popular with drinkers in the rugby-loving Salta Province located in the north of the country.

According to the beer company, the unique machine has helped boost sales of Cerveza Salta by 25 percent in bars where it was installed. We’re wondering if there’s been a rise in the number of shoulder dislocations, too.

After inserting the necessary coins, the drinker is required to ram the vending machine at speed. A so-called ‘pussy meter’ on the front of the machine indicates the strength of your hit — a woeful whack won’t deliver a beer, while a solid smash will.

Of course, Cerveza Salta’s novel creation isn’t the first company to use a vending machine as part of a marketing campaign. A couple of months back, Coca Cola came up with one that requires a hug rather than a slam before it dispenses a drink. Then there’s Kraft with its iSample machine — equipped with sensors, the machine would ‘read’ the faces of those using it and offer a dessert based on their calculated age. And there’s one in Japan that offers free Wi-Fi (as well as drinks).

With Cerveza Salta’s offering, one hopes there’s no confusion over which vending machines demand to be rammed and which don’t. Imagine the carnage that would ensue if someone ran headlong into a machine which they thought was a Rugbeer machine, but sadly wasn’t.